1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image processing apparatuses and image processing methods, and in particular relates to an image processing apparatus and image processing method capable of transmission/reception and recording of an image file obtained by panoramic image capturing.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there has been an increasing number of electronic devices that record a still image and a moving image on a recording medium, as with a digital camera. The conventional digital cameras often have multiple recording operation modes, such as a continuous shooting function to continuously record still images, an auto bracket shooting function to shoot a plurality of times while changing the imaging conditions, and a panoramic image shooting function to shoot a wide range with a plurality of shots. Each image file recorded in these multiple recording operation modes is managed by a directory entry of a recording medium, and is subjected to a reproduction operation, an erasing operation, and the like in units of a file. In the case of moving images, one file has a plurality of frame images and an edit function may be realized by an erase operation and the like in the units of a frame.
Since a plurality of image files are required in creating a panoramic image by superimposing a plurality of input images, the file size will increase. This poses problems, such as an increase of the size of a storage capacity in the image processing apparatus, and a decrease of the speed of network transfer or FAX transmission. With respect to such problems, there has been a proposal in the image recording devices, such as an electronic camera device, that in synthesizing a panoramic image by superimposing a plurality of input images, the memory capacity of a canvas serving as an image memory is reduced by devising the weighting of synthesis (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-293851).
However, the technique according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-293851 is simply a technique to reduce the image memories (campus memories) required in synthesizing a panoramic image. When a panoramic image is synthesized by superimposing a plurality of images, a technique to record a plurality of images on a recording medium or a technique to transfer these images will be required. However, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-293851 does not refer to a technique to efficiently store or transfer a plurality of images for forming these panoramic images, at all. Moreover, although it is possible to reduce the file size by performing a higher compression processing by JPEG or the like, there is a problem that image degradation appears noticeably.